Roommates
by ReeReeWithAngst
Summary: Following the persecution of all who were different following the signing of the Sokovia Accords, few places are safe for mutants and other freaks. Which is why Shadow Valley apartments opened up, to shelter super powered "weirdos". Like former Teen titan Beast boy, who just moved in with former X-man, Nightcrawler.
1. Moving day

He closed his eyes and remembered the bombing. How many explosives were needed to kill five people? Clearly, they didn't use enough. Every Titan had escaped. Starfire had grabbed Robin. He had grabbed his best friend Cy, Raven could handle herself. They had salvaged as much as possible. The tools and machines keeping Cy alive were the top priority. BB hadn't saved anything for himself at all. Didn't matter now. Now he sat in his car, several years later, and thought about how quickly they turned. When heroes started seeming like menaces and the Sokovia Accords made people think they couldn't trust the caped crusaders.

He looked up at the sign. Shadow Valley Apartments, 100% bomb proof. A place created for heroes turned hiders. He looked around to make sure no one was watching and ducked inside.

"I take it you are here to interview for residency?" A woman with perfect posture and a critical non-smile asked when he ducked in.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Sit down," She ordered, her voice commanding, her nameplate reading Hilda Beauregard. He sat.

"Name?" He bit his lip from answering the wrong thing.

"Garfield Logan, ma'am." Her eyebrows raised.

"No relation to Wolverine?"

"Oh, oh no." He ran a hand through his hair.

"I did not think so. Inhuman, mutant, or other?"

"Other," He mumbled, feeling small.

"Thought so. Affiliated with any group?" Avengers, Justice League, et cetera?"

"Former Teen Titan, ma'am."

"Never heard of them, but I believe you." She wrote it down.

"Did you sign the Sokovia Accords?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And you are aware that within these walls you are able to use your powers however you see fit as long as it is not destructive?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Are your powers inherently destructive?"

"No ma'am I'm a shapeshifter." She turned stern.

"I did not ask you what you are. In this building, people are not their powers. They are residents. They are neighbors. They are people deserving of respect and safety and a break from being seen only for their differences. If you cannot give them that respect you cannot live here which is why you do not start a conversation with what are you or what do you do unless the other is comfortable with it."

"Yes ma'am, of course, ma'am." He looked ashamed.

"I take it, Mr. Logan, that you are here because you know that respect is not found easily out there. You do not want to be hurt by those you tried to save. If that is the case, you will be at home here."

"Thank you."

"Rent is due first Friday of every month. You have to call a week in advance if you need any exceptions to the rule. There is a laundry room on this floor and on the third floor. You requested a roommate so I am putting you with Kurt Wagner. I have one last question."

"Alright."

"Do you have any desire to return to heroics?" He hesitated. That was one of the only things that he was still hung up on. Save the world? Absolutely, he would always want to try. But the war on different made it more likely that he had to be saved from the world. That or change everything about himself to fit in. To be safe.

"Ah, most likely no." He didn't have a team anymore, had no way to protect himself. Other than superpowers... But those weren't enough anymore.

"Your room is 207, second floor, here is your key." She handed him his key, and after slinking outside to grab the two bags he had until his things arrived he headed upstairs to his new "home".

His roommate sprang right up and came over, looking delighted to see someone, anyone, in the middle of the afternoon. The place was fairly bare. This man, a little older, maybe 27 to his meager 23, had been perched in a gaming chair, the only piece of furniture in the snug living room.

"Kurt, hello," The man said with a noticeable German accent.

"I mean, I'm Kurt, your roommate, hello."

"Hey I'm Be- I mean, I'm Gar." Beast Boy. Ugh. He felt _stupid_ whenever he let his "hero" name slip out in this day and age.

"Gar. Interesting," Kurt said, pumping Gar's hand enthusiastically.

"Let me give you the tour," He added, glancing around the bare apartment.

"Okay."

"Living room, kitchen, bathroom, my room, your room, closet." The apartment was completely unfurnished. There was only that gaming chair, a card table and two folding chairs in the kitchen, and a desk, swivel chair, and bed in Kurt's room.

"Hey, man, don't worry, I've got furniture coming tomorrow. My friend Cy is driving it over. It's cheap stuff mostly but I've got a couch and a real table and chairs so..."

"That's awesome, dude." Kurt looked excessively grateful.

"I can barely pay for this apartment and my car. Well, I mean, I could. Just got a promotion, actually. The manager thinks I'm cute." Kurt hesitated and pressed a button on his watch. The normal looking man in front of him transformed into a blue-skinned human with a tail.

"Probably wouldn't think that if she knew what I actually look like."

"Hey, no, I really _hope_ cute doesn't depend on skin color." He gestured at his green hair and body.

"I'd like to think that, dude. But over half the places in this city require you to wear one of these if you physically look like a mutant or an inhuman just so you can get a job there. The places that don't are so cruel to you basically have to change your entire identity to be accepted." Kurt just looked so tired when he said that, flicking back to his "human" form.

"Mine is coming with my boxes and furniture. I'll blend in soon enough." They stood there gazing around the empty room.

"You want to go for dinner?" Kurt offered.

"Know any vegetarian places?

"Yeah, a couple."

"Know any places that serve people like me?"

"You want to order in? I'll pay. You eat cheese pizza?" Kurt was quick to change the subject.

"Yeah. People deliver to this place?"

"Some will, but we have to meet them at the door. Hilda won't let anyone up to the apartments unless they live here or are vouched for."

Over pizza, Kurt and Gar talked about employment and education. Garfield was going to attend Pensley's College, a semi-segregated university that promised a safe learning environment for Accords signer. Gar had attended three colleges prior and had given up on being able to focus anywhere else. The air in the colleges he'd tried had been humid with hatred and he'd never felt safe, and with good reason. As for Kurt, he was making enough money now to nearly be able to quit his second, "mutant friendly", ill-paying, and strenuous job. Mutant friendly meant mutants, which he apparently was, could work there- not that the job prioritized mutant safety or even guaranteed that the mutants involved would not be harmed. Quite the opposite. You see a sign that says Mutant friendly you're basically seeing a sign that says slaughterhouse. Slaughter's a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much.

"Why do you work there?" Gar asked, looking dutifully alarmed.

"Because it's a place I can go where I don't have to hide what I look like or what genetic group I'm affiliated with. It's a place where the word mutant isn't treated like an insult, they know I have a right to be there. I know they have a right to disagree with that." Gar couldn't help feeling like there was a weight on his shoulders, just completely _controlling_ him.

"I'm gonna get some sleep. Thanks for the pizza, Kurt."

"You want to use my bed until yours comes? I can sleep in the gaming chair."

"No thanks, I can fall asleep anywhere." Beast boy felt homesick for Titan tower and the people he'd left behind. Kurt saw that look of homesickness and mentioned, as Gar turned away,

"Do you want to have a party? Meet some of your new neighbors?"

"Are we allowed?"

"Sure. Invite some of your friends, it'll be fun."

"Yeah, okay." He had already pulled out his phone, texting a number he couldn't possibly ever forget.

Raven…


	2. Morning person?

**Sorry Chapter two took so long!**

 **If you guys don't mind dropping a comment, what to think of a name change to Aftermath of the Accords? A friend suggested it. Or, if you have no opinion, drop a comment anyway, because I'm desperate? Or something? Thanks...  
**

* * *

SCREECH. SCREECH. SCREECH. It only took three screeches for Beast boy to fall from his perch and become fully awake. Or semi fully awake. Fully, fully awake didn't happen until after the second or third pot of coffee, which he downed as he waited on the only uncomfortable seat in the lobby for his best friend to show up with his moving van. Cy was a computer scientist near where Titans East had been located. It was a long way from here. Cy was probably also just barely running on coffee. Coffee and solar power, that is. It had been a long night for both. He stared out the tinted window, holding on to his chipped Avengers mug like it was his lifeline. Hilda was presumably the only other one awake, sitting up straight and tall with critical eyes glancing at him.

"Good morning," The sleepy shapeshifter muttered, not buying it.

"To you as well, Mr. Logan. When will your associate be arriving?"

"Soon," He mumbled, sipping coffee.

"Will he be punctual?"

"Soon..." Gar groaned, unable to keep up a conversation.

"Of course." He drained the rest of his coffee and fidgeted tiredly. It was early. Cy would be there soon. Whenever soon was. He leaned against the back of the uncomfortable seat, watching a couple of Accords signers head towards their jobs, most masked by "Human" disguises. His heart fell. He was so tired and seeing his neighbors head off into a world where they had to hide who they were just brought him down. Then there was a flash and Kurt was leaning against the wall with a mug of coffee and the coffee pot, still warm.

"You need some?" He asked.

"Uh huh."

"Not a morning person?" Gar gave him a disgruntled anime-like look. He looked like he was either in an anime or college.

"I guess not." Kurt handed over the coffee pot. A first-floor door slammed open and closed and in thundered the thing.

"Toilet's broken." He muttered at Hilda.

"Of course, Mr. Grimm." She began to make phone calls. Gar dumped coffee into his Avengers mug wordlessly, a little shocked that Thing was _right there_. Kurt didn't even seem fazed as Benjamin Grimm went back to his apartment.

"Dr. Banner is in the apartment right next door to him," Kurt said casually, and Gar's eyes boggled.

"Do you want some breakfast?" Kurt asked a minute later.

"No, no, I'm good." The green skinned young man murmured, clearly frazzled.

"Not much of a conversationalist in the morning either, are you?"

"I'm just worried about Cy's safety..." Gar finally admitted. These types of things concerned him. After the bombing... Sometimes he went overboard worrying about his friends. He'd been the youngest, the baby, several years younger than Cy. That had been forever ago. Cy had taken him under his wing, they all had, and now he just wanted them to be safe and happy. Cy was happy where he was... For the most part.

He had a wife and an adopted daughter. He went by Victor Stone now. He was happy.

Gar wished he could be that happy with an identity that didn't feel like his own. Cy had married a normal girl, a beautiful normal girl that he loved dearly. But Gar didn't think that would ever happen for him. Meeting a normal human and finding love... Not that he couldn't love a "normal" girl, but would she ever love him back with how he truly looked? Cy's wife knew how he truly looked and accepted him. Besides, there was a girl he was already in love with, and he could never get over her, no matter how... Less than normal she could be.

It was too early in the morning for these types of shower thoughts. He let out a small groan. Kurt looked at him concerned.

"Your friend will be okay, man..." His furry blue roommate promised. Gar just sighed.

"I have to leave in two hours for work, but I'll be here until then to help with the furniture," Kurt added.

"Thanks... Hope he gets here soon." Another half hour passed, and Kurt and Gar passed the time by reading excerpts from the only magazine in the building, a dreadfully boring one at that, in stupid voices. The German did a fairly proficient American accent and Gar... Was pretty terrible at accents, actually. They made each other laugh though, keeping up their spirits until Cy arrived at the thirty-minute mark with his truck.

"Cy!" Gar ran to tackle his best friend in a hug, earning a warm embrace and some strict looks.

"It's Victor, Gar. Please refer to me as Victor." Gar's smile wavered.

"S-sure. How's Sarah and Alicia?" Gar loved his adopted sister-in-law and niece a lot.

"They're doing good. Alicia lost her first tooth recently. She was so excited when the tooth fairy left her a dollar." Gar smiled warmly.

"Oh, here. You'll be needing this." He handed beast boy his owned souped-up version of the image inducer. Another wavering smile.

"Thanks." He HATED having to hide his identity. It was awful.

"I know, I know, it sucks. But we're doing this to protect you, you know that right? It's necessary." Cy, er, Victor, ruffled Gar's hair. Both sighed.

"Thanks, Victor. I know you're just looking out for me." The began to lug things to the apartment as quickly as possible so Kurt could get to work. Gar could spend the rest of the day as he pleased decorating and arranging, and maybe meet some new neighbors and invite them to the apartment warming party. Speaking of...

"You talk to Robin or Starfire lately?" He asked hopefully.

"No, no, last I heard they were in government work. Something philanthropic. And they're happy, or they were, about seven months ago."

"Man, we need a group chat or something. We've got to keep up with each other. What about-"

"No, I haven't talked to Raven. Man, are you still smitten with her? You have got to move on..." Gar nearly shattered the lamp he was juggling by dropping it, looking embarrassed.

"I can't," Gar snapped, earning a curious look from Kurt. Gar gave him a look, mouthing, "I'll tell you later." Victor sighed. Gar sighed. Kurt decided to inch his way to work because frankly, he was a little unsettled by whatever was going on.

After they finished with the moving van Gar and Victor slumped on the couch drinking bottled lemonade.

"I take it you've been trying to reach out to her?" Victor deduced.

"Yeah... I invited her to our apartment warming party."

"Don't get your hopes up Gar, she probably won't come..."

"I know. Will you? It'll be in a day or two..."

"You know I have to get back to Sarah and Alicia."

"Yeah, yeah, of course. I just thought it would be a good time to be able to just hang out and have fun and not have to hide who we are."

"Sorry, dude. But you'll still have fun. I'm sure you'll meet a lot of cool people. How about we get lunch before I have to go?" BB smiled.

"Yeah let's go!" Victor's strong arm grabbed him by the shirt he was wearing to stop him.

"Put on the watch and turn it on," He ordered, like a protective older brother. Gar sighed and obliged. He turned on his red hair, green eyes, and slightly goofy smile. He turned on his happy face. 

But he wasn't happy. Not fully. They walked through the city, looking normal.

But they weren't. Not fully.

"Hey. She might come. I just don't want you getting hurt if she doesn't."

"Thanks, Cy. You're always looking out for me." This time, he wasn't sternly corrected. Victor let the old, nostalgic nickname pass. After all, he'd always liked it. He noogied his best friend, and for a moment, it felt like nothing had changed.

But everything had.


	3. Party Animal

**If you guys don't mind dropping a comment, what to think of a name change to Aftermath of the Accords? A friend suggested it. Or, if you have no opinion, drop a comment anyway, because I'm desperate? Or something? Thanks...**

* * *

There's something about the way a nice new shirt makes you feel as you slide it on and look at yourself in the mirror. And you think that maybe this shirt is the difference between you making friends or being an outcast. The difference between sweeping a girl of her feet or being socked in the face.

Honestly, he wouldn't care either way, as long as Raven showed up. He'd gotten an uplifting maybe and that was enough for him to get excited and put on a nice shirt. It was a white button down with a green checkered pattern. He'd fumbled with the buttons endlessly. Human or beast, he looked good in it.

He chose beast of course since the party was in his home and that was how he was most comfortable. Sure he'd been that redhead once upon a time. But that kid had gotten sick, and the medicine had made him into something completely different. Something a little bit beastly and a whole lot awesome. And he'd been anxious about all of that in the beginning, homesick for the kid he used to be. But then he found a home with the Titans, and everything had gotten better, far better. That should have been the end of the story.

It never would be though. He heard a loud crash and startled, thinking of the bombs that had brought down Titan Tower. He thought about how his friends could have been killed. Didn't stop to speculate that he could have died too. Death hadn't mattered to him as a sick little kid, hadn't much matter to him the day they were attacked by terrorists, didn't matter now. He had seen and hung out with Victor on multiple occasions. Robin sometimes checked Facebook and responded to messages. Starfire was one to drop everything, fly over, and give you a hug if you needed one, so she was just a text away. But she had said that she would be unlikely to make it to the party. It was still up in the air though.

But Raven?

That maybe was the first bit of communication he'd gotten in a while from the girl he crushed on endlessly.

He personified it. Sent it sitting next to him, talking, and shutting him down with a sarcastic remark that really just lit him up inside. He loved her humor even though she loved to use it against him.

He remembered the time she'd had to make him laugh to undo mind control. How she had left her comfort zone to rescue him.

Right now, just that one little maybe swam through a void of despair and rescued him. She was a Titan after all.

He smiled at the mirror, hopefully.

Maybe.

He walked out to see Kurt, who had put on a clean band t-shirt, a red jacket, and jeans he had only worn once or twice since washing. Gar couldn't tell if Kurt had combed his hair, but he looked alright. His tail swished around and he smiled when he saw Gar.

"Looking good, bud," Kurt said, making Gar laugh.

"You too, when are the guests arriving?"

"Thirty minutes."

"And the pizza?"

"25."

"Cool." Ten minutes passed.

15.

20.

The pizza was late.

But then... So were the guests.

Gar was freaking out a little.

And he was so disappointed.

"It's official. We throw the worst parties in the universe." Gar bemoaned.

"In two universes..." Kurt chimed in, flopping down next to him on their couch. They had like twelve pizzas, and some of them were not vegetarian. They couldn't eat all of those, no matter what.

Then the doorbell rang, and the flood gates opened.

Gar couldn't comprehend how many people were there and who they were all there. He heard rumors of Quake being there, which totally excited him, but it was actually Avalanche, AKA Lance Alvers, who was with his girlfriend and had been mistaken as Quake due to his powers at least twenty three times. Which kinda ticked him off, but everything was in one piece.

That was mostly due to the scrutiny Lance was under from someone who had already threatened to break him into a twig if he stepped out of line, Bruce Banner.

The Bruce Banner. Gar freaked out. He kind of fangirled all over Dr. Banner until he got the vibe that he was making the scientist uncomfortable and that The Incredible Hulk was only really there for pizza. Which was fine.

He continued to mingle amongst party guests, talking and being happy. He was happy. He felt free and casual, and his guests were all really cool.

Squirrel girl? Awesome.

Lady Sif? Kick butt and seriously how had she gotten in here?

Scarlet Witch? Wellllllll...

Let's just say she was one of his neighbors he was really, really, really happy to be neighbors with. She seemed cool, terrifying, and fun.

But there was one guest he just had to keep searching for.

That one maybe.

Starfire even popped in for a little bit and hugged him and his roommate to death. They hung out whenever possible so he wasn't all that surprised that she showed up. He could always use a Starfire hug though. Always.

But still...

Where was his glorious maybe?

Crowds were starting to thin. He had met gods, heroes, heroines, youtube stars, x-men and inhumans, and so many more cool new faces. Gar was hyped up on the excitement of the night, however, a thought nagged at the back of his mind.

People were high fiving, leaving, and stealing things from the fridge that hadn't been offered. But one person wasn't leaving. A girl in a hood leaned against the wall in the corner. She looked bored.

Almost as if he were Kurt the space between them disappeared. He was by her side and hugging her in an instant.

"Raven!" He cried, holding onto her tightly.

"I thought you wouldn't make it!"

"...I've been here the whole time, moron."

"Y-you have?" She looked at him.

"Right, I believe you. Did you enjoy the party?"

"No." His face fell.

"I don't enjoy parties." She reminded him.

"Oh... So why did you come?" He asked softly, holding his breath. She looked at him like he was insane.

"Because you asked me to." She pointed out. He let out his breath.

"There are available apartments here, Raven."

"So?"

"You could live here. We could be neighbors..."

"And it would just be like Titan tower again, wouldn't it?" She said sharply.

"Well- uh..." He gulped, scratching his head. She hovered above him, just a little, controlling her emotions just barely.

"That didn't turn out so well, did it, Garfield?"

"Don't call me that!" He squeaked.

"We are not Titans anymore. We can't have that back."

"I miss you..." He said lamely. She stopped her tirade.

"I've been here the whole time." She repeated again, and that's when he knew. They may never get back being Titans, but they would never lose being Beast Boy and Raven.

He hugged her a second time, and this time, she hugged back.

* * *

 **I really wanted to cram as many Marvel and DC characters into that party as I could. And I failed miserably. I don't know all that very many characters, and the ones I do know about and want to use have spots in upcoming chapters, that is if this story continues as it is.**

 **Shout out to all of my reviewers, have a wonderful week, I'll try to crank out chapter four ASAP.**

 **Feel free to suggest cameos, speaking of... How should I fit in Stan Lee?**


	4. Rejection day

**If you guys don't mind dropping a comment, what to think of a name change to Aftermath of the Accords? A friend suggested it. Or, if you have no opinion, drop a comment anyway, because I'm desperate? Or something? Thanks...  
**

* * *

You could wake up a number of ways in Shadow Valley Apartments. Bomb threats, fire alarms, loud neighborly disputes, annoying birds outside the window, screaming roommates, one's traditional alarm clock (but this is unlikely), and, as of this morning, the sound of a government agent tapping on your door. And mind you this is before breakfast, coffee, or personal hygiene.

That being said, none of that mattered to Gar Logan as he opened the door since Kurt had already gone to work. There was something about waking up early to the sound of a pin-up model knocking with urgency. Not that Gar had ever had any pin-up model posters, nor, had he had them, would she be the star. But if he disregarded his feelings for Raven and pinned up a poster of any woman on earth, he would want his pin-up of Agent Daisy "Quake" Johnson. By Odin's hammer, that girl was attractive. He tried his hardest not to stammer or stare and remain respectful. But it was hard not to gaze at her. She was nearly almost perfect. She wasn't Raven, no one was, but she was pretty close...

"G-good morning."

"Hello Mr. Logan, we at S.H.I.E.L.D. just wanted to make sure that you are not being mistreated as a citizen of this city. We know things can be difficult when you are super powered, and we wanted to make sure that you know you can file discrimination complaints directly to S.H.I.E.L.D." Agent Phil Coulson said, shaking Gar's hand as he stole glances at Quake.

"Thank you both. I will remember that," Gar said.

"That being said, if you cause any trouble yourself, we are required by law to detain you," Agent Daisy Johnson added.

"Of course." He mumbled, looking scared. She gave him a reassuring, sly smile to show that there were no hard feelings between them, no pleasure in the possibility of detaining him. She leaned in to whisper,

"Do you know Batman?" He nodded enthusiastically, eager to impress her.

"Cool." Then the two agents left. Gar leaned against the wall with a small, happy sigh. He wanted to know what shampoo she used and if she was free next Friday and... Everything about her, really. He shook that off, though. His heart belonged to Raven, and as far as he knew, no one else deserved it.

Besides, Daisy Johnson would never date him.

Gar made his breakfast, plain cereal, and sat there thinking about everything.

And then he showered, got dressed, headed out in a suffocating altered, "Normal" form, and went job hunting.

He probably shouldn't have gone on Whisper the night before and read job horror stories from mutants and inhumans. It had gotten so bad he had to shut his laptop and immediately tell himself that people had made up stories to put on Whisper so that mutants and inhumans would be frightened away from seeking employment. It scared him that that was the best case scenario...

You could hide your form and walk into a restaurant and eat there and enjoy it and no one had to know what you were hiding. But if you walked into a restaurant and tried to apply to work there, your employer had to know what you were. Gar still didn't like being referred to as a what. But he needed a job. Even with a scholarship to Pensley's, he still had to pay rent and buy textbooks and the whole thing just overwhelmed him. He had had a difficult time when he was younger getting a job before the Sokovia Accords, but he fully blamed that on him being younger and immature. He hoped that he didn't get employed by a sentient Alien Tofu substance bent on stealing all of the world's cows. That seemed like a one-time thing, though.

Gar had applied to seven jobs before lunch and rejection seemed pretty clear in all of them. You technically couldn't be turned down from a job because of your mutant or inhuman or "other" status. Technically. But in court, most Judges would let it slide if the employer said that they felt threatened by something the interviewee did or said. Gar could only guess what the different employers would say if he ever thought to challenge them in a courtroom.

The first employer might cite too firm of a handshake as threatening.

The second might claim that Gar had glanced at her breasts, which was obviously sexual harassment... As long as you were someone under the Accords. Otherwise, it was just rude. And he had not, for the record, been rude.

The third, knowing "what" he was as soon as he walked in was very displeased with him. Gar would be overlooked for talking in a loud threatening tone- during an interview that was held in a cramped back room, noisy from the work going on inside the restaurant. Of course he had to talk loud.

The fourth might be annoyed and "threatened" by the squeak of Gar's cheap shoes.

The fifth... What did it matter? No one had even mentioned calling him back. Gar ate at a restaurant that he hadn't tried to apply to because he didn't really feel like ever returning to the people who had treated him so rudely.

His appetite got ruined at lunch, though, when he saw someone with a recognizable watch- really an image inducer, which for most of that waiter's experience was hidden under his sleeves but that Gar had been able to see when the sleeve got pushed up so that the waiter wouldn't get a customer's refill on his work clothes. After seeing the image inducer, Gar's interest was piqued, and as he ate his salad his eyes followed the man, probably no older than he was, and probably another guy who would be attending or had attended Pensley's College.

Gar wasn't the only person, however, who was watching the waiter with interest. Gar noticed some people staring at the waiter, and Gar couldn't see any other reason to stare. The waiter's fly wasn't down and he wasn't especially handsome, ugly or anything else Gar could think of. So Gar had a feeling they were only gawking because the waiter, whose name tag read Thomas Dutch, was an Accords signer. Another person whose life had been ruined by the Sokovia Accords.

Gar watched the table that was staring with growing suspicion. He wished that he could intervene if things turned ugly. But he could do nothing but report it to S.H.I.E.L.D. if Thomas was mistreated. Which he most definitely was. With blood boiling he watched the terrible customers spill sticky Coca Cola on Thomas' Image Inducer. Shrieks could be heard as Thomas's third, fourth, fifth, and sixth arms appeared. The terrified waiter fled the scene, running out of the restaurant the back way. Gar stood up, paid, left a cheap tip, and headed out to where Thomas was trying to fiddle with his inducer.

"Hey," Gar said softly, Thomas jumping.

"Please, I don't want any trouble," Thomas said, all six hands raised in the air. Gar flipped the switch on his inducer and turned it off.

"Don't want any trouble either." Thomas looked relieved.

"Good..."

"I'm looking for a job in this city, and I have to ask... Is being treated like you were just now normal?" Thomas Dutch sighed and nodded.

"And I'll probably be fired for that, too. Even though it was in no way my fault. Sorry, dude. I do know a place where you can apply, though." Gar nodded gratefully as Thomas wrote down some info.

"Hey, do you want to borrow my inducer for the day?"

"Yeah, but do you really feel comfortable going around without it?" Gar shifted into a small bug and then back to Gar.

"Yeah, I should be fine getting back. I probably won't get noticed." Thomas smiled.

"I'm Thomas."

"Gar Logan." Thomas nodded.

"That's cool. Thanks a lot, man. And wish me luck getting another job in this purgatory."

"Will do." They exchanged numbers so that Gar could come and get his inducer when Thomas's was fixed, and then they parted ways.

Purgatory seemed like an apt description.

But Gar was determined to stick it out, no matter how hellish things got.

* * *

 ***Snickers to self* Hey what language do they speak in Holland? Dutch.**

 **Hey, what does an inhuman who has eight limbs remind you of?**

 **Perhaps a Man-Spider?**

 **Perhaps Thomas Dutch is a Man-Spider?**

 **And I swear that it's totally coincidental that the Man-Spider has a name so close to Spiderman's Tom Holland.**

 **It was an accident, actually.**

 **But it's my favorite accident :D**


	5. First Day

**Please review, thanks for those who do, I love you all. Platonically.  
**

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"Why didn't you take this job, if it really is mutant friendly?" Gar asked over the breakfast he had offered to buy for his new pal the morning he started his new job.

"I'm allergic to cats, which is a problem since it's an animal shelter."

"Right. So how did you find out about it?" Gar asked, buttering his croissant while eyeing Dutch's bacon with disgust.

"My girlfriend's older brother is the hiring manager, and he runs the place "mutant friendly" because his sister is one. Except she's not a mutant, she's an inhuman. And so am I. So maybe don't say Mutant friendly. We call it Accords Tolerant. It fits everyone, not just mutants, you know?" Gar nodded and sheepishly scratched his head. Since he wasn't a mutant either, he should have known this.

"Y-yeah... Sorry. Good luck interviewing today, Dutch." The man spider nodded and chewed on some more bacon. He had indeed lost his restaurant job. But his inducer was newly repaired since the inhuman was pretty tech savvy.

"Yeah, and good luck at your new job. Demarius isn't bad. He'll like you, and you'll love the animals. Though, uh... Not all of them are normal."

"I'll be able to handle it, but thanks..."

"Just be careful, dude. I know former heroes aren't the first to admit that they can't handle weird but you and I both know that the weird of today and the weird of the golden age of heroes isn't the same. I dare say this weird is more dangerous. It's like..." A glimmer entered his golden eyes at the reference.

"It's like we've entered the Twilight Zone, and we're the ones that it doesn't end well for. Like that dude in the episode All the time in the world." Gar whistled.

"That was a depressing one..."

"Yeah." Gar couldn't remember the last time he was able to just sit down and enjoy TV. It used to be his life... Wow, he had been such a pathetic teenager.

"Noted, I'll be careful. Thanks again, but I have to jet." He stood and left a tip on the table for both of them, Dutch staying a moment longer, sipping coffee, trying to collect his nerves before his interview.

Gar went to work. This was his second job, ever. He had used insurance money from the Titan's Tower attack to get through his first two attempts at being a college student, which he had had to give up due to unbearable harassment. He knew from his job hunting experiences of recent that this city, though ranked most Accords Tolerant, just above New York, had a long way to go before it was super warm and welcoming. Still, he had already begun to feel almost at home here and was willing to keep giving it a shot. But to do that, he needed to pay rent and buy textbooks, so he needed to nail this job, weird or not.

"Hello, my name is Gar Logan, this is my first day working here, how would you like me to begin?" Gar recited to his employer, Demarius Sharp.

"Well, you'll need to meet the animals..." Demarius said, leading Gar to the back. Mostly, it was normal. Though one animal was a familiar green alien dog- Gar instinctively shuddered- and one pooch appeared to be more of a wolf cub than a puppy dog. He was introduced to more animals, some were regulars at the shelter, and others were new pickups.

"A lot of the newer guys have families who will come for them soon. But until they do, we're their family. Are you good with animals, Gar?"

"Yeah, pretty good." An adorable Somali kitten had already taken a like to him.

"Perhaps I'll take that one home..." Gar mused.

"Oh please do, that's Butterscotch, he was born here... We don't think he's going to be adopted. The rest of his family was, but not him... I don't think I can take anymore strays home myself, I have far too many..." He laughed and Gar was glad his employer clearly cared for the shelter animals. Gar did too.

He spent the morning cleaning cages and playing with the animals, and the afternoon helping with paperwork as well as filing the paperwork so that he could adopt butterscotch. That is until an unusual character burst through the doors.

"I must see my grandson immediately! He wound up in your shelter and I must see him now!" The tall, long-haired man wearing golden horns said. Demarius snorted aside to Gar.

"Pet owners. I know I said we're like a family here, but calling a pet your grandson?" Then he turned to the frantic oddity, "The kennel is this way sir," And led him back, Gar following in interest.

The long-haired dude rushed toward the cage containing the wolf-like puppy, cooing at it.

"There you are Fen Jr. My precious little killer... Come on little guy your papa was worried about you, yes he was..."

"You'll have to fill out paperwork if you want to take your dog out. And there is a small holding fee." Demarius would later explain that the fee was waived if the family couldn't afford it. Demarius was kind of too good of a guy.

"Dog? Dog?! This is no dog! Fen Jr. is a mighty wolf who shall see Asgard crumble and be responsible for it!" The man announced as he filled out the paperwork and his mighty wolf whizzed on a potted plant.

"Right, of course, Mr. Uh... Loki. Have a nice day. Goodbye Fen Jr!"

"Dude, I think we just gave a serial killer alien his mighty wolf cub, who probably actually was his grandson," Gar told him. Demarius sighed and shrugged.

"Dude, in times like this, I'm just happy the animals get accepted into a home. Because it sure ain't happening for all humans."

"Or inhumans?" Gar empathized.

"Yeah, those are the _humans_ I'm talking about." Gar nodded and didn't push the subject. At 6 o'clock he ended his shift, said goodbye to the animals that remained, and took Butterscotch back to his new home. The most Accords Tolerant building in the city, he figured, could handle an itty bitty kitty cat. And Kurt was pretty excited about their new roommate.

* * *

 **Please provide suggestions for the Stan Lee cameo if you read and review.**


	6. New Neighbor

**Please review, thanks for those who do, I love you all. Platonically.  
**

* * *

Having a kitten sleep on your chest does wonders to soothe the hole in your heart left by a gorgeous Azarathian mistress of magic. It helps, at least. A little.

Gar was napping with Butterscotch on the couch when Kurt teleported next to him and woke them both up.

"Hey! Personal space!" Gar scolded. It was the first weekend in a while that neither of them was doing anything at all. Weak plans to meet up with Dutch and Doreen Green and some other friends had been considered but nothing was concrete. It was really just a lazy Saturday.

"Sorry! Sorry! Look at this-" Kurt held up his laptop, which did not seem to be more spectacular than normal.

"Wow. So amazing." Gar said sarcastically, combing a hand through his green hair tiredly. He hadn't even showered yet today, he was feeling that lazy.

Kurt rolled his eyes and pointed at the screen. It read: _Which Super Woman should you date based on your romantic tendencies?_ Gar had a feeling Kurt was taking the quiz just because of a failed internet date last night, but he indulged his friend's antics.

"Alright, alright, let's take this quiz." Gar sighed. He answered the questions first, listlessly. He wasn't that interested in dating right now. Classes started in two weeks, and work was his life right now, and no matter how many amazing girls existed in this city, nay, in this world, none of them could fill his heart like Raven. And Gar had come to accept that.

His answers indicated the best heroine for him to date would be She-Hulk, which, as an upstairs neighbor to original Hulk was a frightening idea. Would Dr. Banner threaten him the way he had threatened Lance if Gar started dating Jennifer Walters? There was nothing wrong with her except for the nine-year age difference, but Gar just wasn't about to forfeit his all-consuming crush to go chasing after She-Hulk.

Then Kurt began putting in his answers. It was abundantly clear that he was pretty excited about this quiz, and was pretty keen on getting a cool result. Gar watched his friend's face rather than his responses and laughed when a horrified expression appeared on Kurt's face. He glanced at the screen, wanting to see who was that horrifying.

"What's wrong with Mystique?"

"Oh, nothing except dude! She's my _mom_!"

"Oh..." Gar began to laugh.

"Not funny." Kurt huffed.

"It's a little funny." Even Butterscotch seemed to be laughing. Kurt wasn't too mad, though. He began scrolling through other quizzes he could take.

"Hey, according to this quiz I'm Chewbacca. It says I'm Furry, friendly, and love food."

"Wow, that is completely accurate. And, hey... I didn't tell you last night but try not to feel too down about your date. Some girls just can't see how awesome you are. Besides, romance is over-" There was a knock at the door, which Kurt sprung up to get as Gar finished his rant.

"-rated. Who is it? Is it Dutch? Did we accidentally make plans?" As he was laying down and Butterscotch was curled up comfortably on his face, he didn't bother seeing the visitor for himself. It was probably Banner again needing to borrow a cup of sugar or something. No grocers delivered to Shadow Valley and Bruce put off going shopping until he was desperate. Or, as he had mentioned, it could be Dutch coming to see about hanging out.

"It's not Dutch... It's some girl I don't know, a friend of yours?"

"I am not _some girl_. And a friend is pushing it." In that instant Gar shot up to sitting position, Butterscotch scratching up his face in a panicked flight to security now that his bed was messed up.

"Raven? What's wrong? Did something happen? Are you okay?" He scrambled over the couch and to the door, ignoring the blood on his face as Butterscotch mewed indignantly.

"Nothing is wrong, idiot. Do I think you would come to you first if something was wrong?" Owwwww his heart. His itty bitty broken hearttttttt.

"Um, no? I was hoping to be your second or third choice?" He laughed tiredly, trying to alleviate the pain of her jab with a joke. It was sort of working?

"Yeah, probably." Raven gave him a tiny smile. Tiny. His heart began to beat at double speed, mending itself.

"So why are you here, Ray? Not that you're not welcome here any time, because you definitely are..." He rambled awkwardly until she gave him a familiar look. The shut up look.

"Just wondering if you were going to help me move in." She stated dryly.

"Yeah of course anytime- wait. Move in? You mean you're gonna live in this apartment?"

"Well, not this apartment. This apartment smells like... You. But yeah, I'm moving in upstairs." Gar began jumping up and down.

"Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes! This is the best news ever! Do you have a roommate?" She gave him a look.

"No of course not... Anyway, Kurt and I would be happy to help you move in. Oh yeah Kurt this is Raven Raven this is-"

"Kurt. I got it," Raven interrupted.

"Nice to meet you," Kurt said warmly, offering her a hand to shake. She actually shook his hand.

"You too." Gar still looked ridiculously excited.

"You should probably bandage your face. And shower." Raven pointed out. Gar looked mortified, but wouldn't let that discourage him.

"I will be right back!" He called, dashing off to the shared bathroom. He showered as carefully as he ever had, coming out dressed to the nines. He was happy.

Raven was sprawled out on his couch. Butterscotch was on her lap, and she was gently petting him. Gar was terribly jealous of the cat. Kurt was asking her questions from one of his absurd quizzes, and oddly enough, she was responding. She looked up at him, peering through his soul.

"Apparently I'm Oscar the Grouch. Also, I'm the entire movie Frozen, and according to Buzzfeed, I'm a contemplative onion." She informed.

"That's, um... Odd. You've been busy." Butterscotch stretched possessively, Gar's envy growing stronger.

"Yeah. We should start moving stuff before it gets late..."

As they moved furniture to her third-floor apartment (314, Gar memorized), he interrogated her.

"Are you going to college?" He asked.

"No, I already got a degree."

"...In what? If you don't mind me asking."

"Forensic science," Raven responded.

"Cool! So do you have a job in the field or...?" He trailed off, understanding how hard it was to be an Accords signer and still get a job in your field.

"I have a job." She whispered, levitated furniture wavering in the air. Like Gar's, the furniture was probably all from goodwill.

"I work at KFC," She elaborated eventually. He didn't laugh. He had worked at Mega Meaty Meat, and would have worked there again, had it been a real restaurant and had he not been hired at the Animal Shelter.

"Can I come to visit you?" He asked softly.

"Are you going to come to visit me at a _fried chicken_ restaurant?"

"Salad, cornbread, potato wedges. I know all the vegetarian options at every restaurant in this city."

"Of course you do." She rolled her eyes.

"So can I visit you?" Raven thought for a second.

"Yeah."

"Sweet!" He pumped the air.

Raven looked around her apartment.

"I'll unpack later. Thank you both for helping. Do you guys want to go out for dinner? I'll pay." This time Kurt pumped the air.

As they headed out, Gar smiled to himself, switching into his "normal" form. _Best lazy Saturday ever_.

* * *

 **Please provide suggestions for the Stan Lee cameo if you read and review. I took four actual quizzes pretending to be Raven and Kurt. Okay so the BuzzFeed one I didn't do as Raven but the questions were so basic I don't feel bad answering for myself, I doubt Raven would mind either.**


	7. Voice mail

**Please comment if you are a fan of Teen Titans, X-Men evolution, or KFC. Comment any other also decent chicken places. I think Lee's is better than KFC please don't stone me.**

* * *

"Alright, you've been pacing for two hours! What's wrong?"

"Just nerves."

"I'm getting dizzy watching your nerves."

"I'm fine..." Gar continued to pace

Butterscotch and Kurt were skeptical.

"We should order a pizza." Kurt decided. Gar agreed. Gar always agreed on all matters concerning pizza.

"We could invite Raven over too..." Kurt added, hoping to make Gar feel better.

"N-no!"

"Why not? I thought you liked her." Gar looked at him and gulped.

"I just don't want to wear out my welcome."

"Welcome?" Kurt pulled up the pizza app, mulling it over.

"Ah, I see, she is the cause of your nerves."

"No! Well... Yes, partly, but no. Classes start tomorrow."

"Ah, yes! That's a good thing." Gar went back to pacing.

"Not a good thing?"

"I'm just stressed, Kurt." He repressed his, "you wouldn't understand." Kurt hadn't had things any easier. Not that that meant he would understand... Things were just so messy and complicated.

"I see." Kurt teleported downstairs to wait for the pizza and Gar sat down on his bed. He was still so uneasy. His college days... If only they were behind him. He had tried three different colleges over the years, this was his fourth, got next to no credits, and was removed before things got too dangerous. It only took one overly passionate person on campus before he became the enemy. He had been glared at, ostracized, threatened and attacked. He'd heard so many insults that he could write a new dictionary. Graduating had always been his goal, but the Accords had made it seemingly unachievable. Pensley's was a safe college, Accords Tolerant in every way, but it only had a few majors to pick from. Table scraps and leftovers from the world of normal people.

Gar went over his schedule, rechecked his backpack, and went back to pacing. Why had he chosen an English major? What would that do for him?

It was silly... But he wanted people to know. Wanted the mistreatment of Accords signers to come to light. Panic was the driving force, the only driving force. Panic and paranoia. What a time to be alive. So he would take extra English classes, work at the animal shelter, pine for Raven from a distance, and hurt inside. It was all planned out.

The good old college days.

He was pacing when Kurt came upstairs and threw the veggie pizza on Gar's bed.

"Sit down already!" His fuzzy blue roommate implored. Gar managed to force himself to sit and began to eat. The pizza was good for his nerves.

"Why don't you call your friend with the metal body?" Kurt suggested after a moment, and Gar nodded. That might make him feel better. Cy- Victor, was like his older brother, and would certainly be able to offer some advice. If he was able to answer the phone.

Kurt kindly gave Gar and the pizza some space, and Gar dialed the old, familiar number.

"You have reached the phone of Victor Stone, oh hey that rhymed anyway leave a message."

"Hey, man, just calling... I'd like to uh... Talk. Never mind. Say hi to your family." Gar flopped back down on his bed and called another familiar number.

"This is Robin. Don't call me unless it's an emergency." Later that day he would get the familiar text- _BB stop calling me just so you can hear my voicemail._ But when had the last family reunion been? He called Starfire. He could count on Starfire. His big sister.

"Beastboy! I am such the happy to hear from you!"

"I knew you'd pick up Star. Thank you."

"Is everything alright? Do I need to come over?"

"I'd love to see you right now. Are you not busy?"

"Oh um, yes. I am busy. I should not be phoning you right now."

"I'll let you go then. I just..." He sighed nostalgically.

"I miss us." He realized though, that he was talking to no one, Star had had to hang up. She did important work. Star and Robin were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Gar had considered becoming one... But saving the world just didn't feel like the right fit anymore. It wasn't him anymore. And the world he now lived in didn't really feel all that much worth saving. That was selfish of him, he knew, but he also knew that Raven somewhat felt the same way. He checked his clock.

5:47. Raven would still be at work. She was killing herself working way too many hours to be healthy at a job she hated, just to survive on minimum wage. And people said that the Accords didn't make life unfair.

Gar flopped back in his bed again, Butterscotch claiming a spot on his chest, and scrolled through his old ringtones. There it was... He pressed play and closed his eyes, letting the nostalgia crash over him.

 _When there's trouble, you know who to call (teen titans!) From their tower, they can see it all (teen titans!) When there's evil on the attack You can rest knowing they got your back Cause when the world needs heroes on patrol Teen Titans, go! Teen Titans, go! With their superpowers, they unite (teen titans!) Never met a villain that they liked (teen titans!) They got the bad guys on the run They never stop until the job gets done Cause when the world is losing all control, Teen Titans, go!_

But the theme song ended and the Teen Titans were never going to go anywhere again. Gar sighed and set his phone away from him. There was no use torturing himself over the past. Still, he couldn't help glancing at his picture of Titan Tower once more as he drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow everything would change, for better or for worse.


	8. Dryer Lint

**Please comment if you are a fan of Teen Titans, X-Men evolution, or KFC. Comment any other also decent chicken places. I think Lee's is better than KFC please don't stone me.**

* * *

"Hey, stop looking at my laundry, you creep," Raven said, bursting through Gar's distant thoughts.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize."

"You didn't realize you were staring at me and my undergarments?"

"No, I didn't, I'm not always thinking about you Raven," Gar snapped, instantly regretting it. Raven would have had every right to get angry at him, but she didn't. Instead, she quietly began to fold laundry as he dumped his into the washer in a frustrated and random manner.

Today had been his first day of Pensley's College. And it had been garbage. The semester had started with a protest. People from all walks of life and all corners of the country yelling just outside of campus that the freaks didn't deserve an education. He had been hit in the head with some protest signs accusing him of being a Mutie, a terrorist, a monster. If they only knew. S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives, none he recognized, had broken up the protest. But Gar had been disheartened nonetheless.

"How was college?" Raven asked, having closed the distance between them. Gar sighed, leaning against the washer. He had forgotten to switch off his image inducer. Raven reached over and pressed the switch, his normal image flickering for a second before yielding up his identity.

"Not great. Not many vegetarian options in the caf." If that had been the height of his problems today...

"You hungry?" She asked, as if it were a throwaway question, pulling his clothes out of the wash so he could properly deal with the stains. He took his anger out on the detergent and the fabric, realizing that the therapeutic nature of it should have led him to wash his laundry well for years. Ah well. You have to learn sometimes. Raven levitated the laundry, inspected it, and hurled it in his direction if it warranted scrubbing.

"I guess."

"You want to grab a bite to eat?" She offered so smoothly Gar almost didn't realize the date like delivery.

"I need to wait around for my laundry..." He mumbled, embarrassed.

"Yeah." She seemed like she would leave it there. But she kept surprising him.

"I have food in my apartment. Something has to be vegetarian."

"Okay. Thanks." He managed a tired smile, starting the washer and following her to her apartment. He still regretted snapping at her. It hadn't just been the protests before classes that had set him off. He had gotten the sense that the teachers who had not signed the Accords were phoning it in, and the teachers who were Accords signers were either not as experienced as they could be or scared for their lives if they taught students to excel. The whole system was bullied and was bullying them.

Raven tossed him a salad kit. Good enough.

"College?" She prompted again.

"Exhausting."

"Work?" He sprinkled cheese on his salad and drowned it in ranch.

"Even worse," He sighed. Raven didn't push. That wasn't her style. He and Demarius had had to deal with some unhappy customers today. People who weren't keen on having their pets handled by an Accords signer. The torrent of words that had followed when his identity had been uncovered had been bad enough to bleep out of any tv show. He was just worn out. He put his green-haired head on her bare table, by his salad. He was so tired...

A hand rested on his back, and he looked up in surprise as she silently supported him. A smile played at her lips. He had to laugh a little.

"What?" He asked her.

"Remember that time everyone dressed as Robin?" Gar burst into laughter. That day had been so far from his mind, but it had been such a perfect memory.

"You were adorable in that outfit..." He blurted. Her hand flew away from his back. He blushed.

"Sorry!" He yelped. His head lowered. When he glanced back up, she was blushing too, tendrils of darkness swirling around her, surprising him. That meant she'd shown some burst of emotion. Embarrassment? Anger? He didn't know.

"M-my l-laundry..." He stammered.

"Thank you..." She whispered.

"For what?" He asked, confused.

"For... I don't know." He didn't know either. He just knew that something was happening.

He stood up as if to go get his laundry. His salad was primarily uneaten. He should have gone to the door, made his way to the laundry room. Moved his things to the dryer and gone back to his room to play with the dryer lint and regret everything that had happened today.

Instead, he did something he knew he wouldn't regret. He closed the distance between them and gently pushed her hood off of her face. Then he kissed her. There was a moment of pure magic. Pure emotion. Oh no. Emotion. She felt it too because tendrils shot out from nowhere and pushed him away from her. Her eyes were wide, she was panicking. This time, Gar didn't apologize. He wasn't one bit sorry. As the tendrils released him, he realized that Raven wasn't one bit mad.

"Thanks..." He whispered.

"For what?" She whispered, putting her hood back up.

"You know." He said. He was smirking a little bit. She tried to glare but couldn't. She was not mad at all.

"I have to get my laundry." He added.

"Okay. Goodbye."

"Thanks for dinner."

"You didn't eat." Gar shrugged.

"Well then. I guess we'll have to do dinner again." He added casually, and then slipped out the door, only fist pumping the air when he was out of view. Hilda Beauregard, watching the building's security cameras while she sipped her Starbucks, must have been very confused.

* * *

 ***Also fist pumping the air* Don't worry for those who want more of Kurt. The next chapter is primarily his.**


	9. Couch Bed

**I don't think I've had this problem in chapters before, but I had a really hard time keeping this chapter third person. I honestly don't know why. But I finally got it down. Anyways, Kurt deserved a more Kurt oriented chapter. Even though this chapter was mostly Gar, as most chapters are and as it was intended to be, I tried to write a storyline for this one that mostly belonged to him. ALSO, check out Common Mistakes if you want a new take on the Titans.**

* * *

"I'll grab the door," Gar said, jumping up when he heard the knock. He and Kurt had both had the night off and, homework completed for school and all the housework dutifully being ignored, they had decided to set up a game of monopoly. Yes, they could have been playing video games or going out for a night on the town or hanging out with Dutch or anything more interesting than monopoly. But they had chosen monopoly.

Gar opened the door, hoping it was Raven, as Kurt sorted through the fake money.

"Hey, Kurt do you have a twin brother?" Gar asked, as he stared at the Kurt outside and then back at the Kurt inside.

"No, why?" A trick of an image inducer then? No, this person wasn't wearing one.

"A clone?"

"Uh, maybe." By this time Kurt, holding a fist full of colorful cash, had teleported over to see their visitor. For a moment, Kurt did a double take. Then he rolled his eyes.

"Gar, this is my mother." Gar looked a tad baffled.

"Um..."

"Shapeshifter," Kurt reminded. He recalled, now, that Kurt had said his mother was Mystique.

"Oh, hi. I'm Gar Logan. Kurt's roommate." Mystique shook his hand and shifted into a mirror image of himself, which was enough to make anyone uneasy.

"Mom, why are you here?"

"I was in town, and I needed a place to stay."

"How'd you get in?" Kurt didn't appear to have the best relationship with his mom. But Kurt was a nice guy so if anyone could work something like that out, it was Kurt.

"Just walked right in and told that nice lady that I locked the keys to my apartment inside and that I would bring the spare right back. You should bring this back."

"Why did you knock if you had the key?"

"Walking in unannounced would be rude. Now go downstairs and return the spare key, Kurt." Kurt didn't even argue. He just vanished, popping in and out.

"So, Gar." Mystique said.

"Yeah?"

"Hm..." She looks him over, making him a little uncomfortable.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Uh..."

"So no."

"I'm working on it." Her eyebrows raise. Someone's eyebrows raise, anyway, he couldn't be sure they're hers.

"You're a shapeshifter too aren't you?" She asked him. He squirmed under her eye.

"How did you know?"

"It's my business to know about superheroes."

"I'm not a superhero, I'm an English Major."

"But you were. Beast boy, member of the Teen Titans along with Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven." She seems to say that last name with so much power and influence, he has to look away.

"We aren't Titans anymore."

"Oh, I know. It's a shame. How many times I have to hear that. We aren't blah blah blah anymore. I hate that. I hate the whole oppressing system. They've always hated mutants, now it's anyone and everyone who ever tried to do anything. The X-men are toast, the Justice League, save for Batman and Superman who've worked the system, goners, everyone is hiding."

"We have to hide." Gar insisted, still uneasy.

"I know _all_ about hiding." She shifted into a handful of different appearances. He got her point. She'd been becoming someone else as long as she had been alive. That was just like what everyone did with the image inducer. It was commonplace now to be fake.

"I'll bet you do."

"It's a shame," She said, going over to the monopoly board and rolling the thimble around in her fingers.

"There are so many good heroes in this world. All gone into hiding."

"That's how the world is now. We just have to deal with that." Kurt appeared in front of them.

"You're lucky Hilda's not the type to ask why I need a replacement key when I can teleport." He grumbled.

"You should just make me a key honestly, I'm your mother."

"We're not supposed to make extra keys this place is supposed to be a safe place."

"And you are put at risk of what by me having a key? Maternal affection?"

"You don't do maternal affection." Kurt had told Gar, also, that he had foster parents. People who had always made him feel cared for and loved despite how he looked. Mystique, from the way the mother and son behaved toward each other, had never been there for him.

"Do you want to play monopoly?" Gar asked to interrupt the tension.

"Sure. I'll be Thimble." Gar was the little dog, naturally, and Kurt, who never committed to a monopoly piece, chose the battleship. Kurt won the game, with luck and after much squabbling and rulebook checking. Gar was wiped out and had work tomorrow, Kurt had work as well, and their guest was probably tired. As he was brushing his teeth he overheard Mystique and Kurt talking in the living room.

"You can sleep on the couch bed. I'll get you blankets."

"I'm actually glad to see you, Kurt." Mystique said.

"Actually? Sure you're not just here to flirt with my roommate? Which is creepy, by the way."

"I wasn't flirting with him. And I came to see you. You're my son."

"I know."

"We should... I should... I just think I should sleep on your couch bed more."

"You mean spend more time with me?" His voice was softening.

"Yeah. Spend more time with you. Beat you in monopoly."

"Yeah... You're never going to do that."

"Goodnight Kurt."

"Goodnight, mom."


	10. Guy's night

**I doubt there will be more than three or four more episodes, which is not something I regret to inform you at all. I am super invested in Common Mistakes right now and don't foresee any immediate conclusion to that story, so if you need to see more of the Titans crew, I'd say I'm doing my best over there. I think I will go through when I am finished with this story and give the chapters due editing to weed out all the little mistakes. Probably even this one. I like to press publish really really fast. *shrugs***

* * *

 ****"Which hand do I shake?" This was the first time that Cy, er, Victor, was meeting Gar's new friend Thomas Dutch, and the six arms were making things a tad confusing.

"Whichever one you want to."

"Is it super hard to find a tailor?" Vic asked with interest.

"I learned to sew early on so I could make my own clothes," Dutch said with a shrug. Gar hadn't known that, but then, he hadn't asked. He had kind of just accepted it as a part of Dutch.

"Impressive," Victor complimented. He had not dressed casually for guy's night at all, but now that he was a husband and a father, he had sort of forgotten what casual was. There were two extremes, work clothes, and hard work clothes, so either a suit or sweats. He would wear his sweats when he was running around with Alicia and Sarah though. Victor was devoted to his family.

"You should bring Alicia to visit," Gar brought up.

"And Sarah too." He added quickly because he didn't want to seem like he just wanted to see his niece, although he did. That little girl was a hoot. Victor smiled thoughtfully.

"Maybe I will, around the holidays." Those were nearing, it was early November now, and they'd all lucked into this free weekend by chance.

"Sarah is my wife and Alicia is my daughter," Vic explained quickly for Kurt and Dutch. They nodded.

"That sounds nice," Dutch said, and maybe he was thinking about marrying his own girlfriend, starting a family, and just living his life. Dutch deserved that. He worked so many hours. He was trying to save up for that ring. But it wouldn't be easy for him and Noelle. It wasn't easy for inhumans. It wasn't easy for any Accords signers. It wasn't easy for Gar, who admitted to wanting to start a family with Raven. Even if she had no idea. Even if they had only been dating for like, three months, since mid-August. And that on and off. He'd known her for forever, though, or it felt like it. He wanted something more.

Victor had been lucky to get Sarah and start a family. The rules of the Accords had always applied to him but he'd been fortunate to fit in better. Gar certainly didn't fit in. Raven didn't. Nor Dutch with his six arms, or Noelle who had owl wings.

But tonight was guy's night.

"What should we do?" Kurt asked, looking around. You could practically see the thought bubble above his head- hamburgers.

"Well, we should go out to eat first," Victor said, looking at the others, who nodded.

"Yeah, Dutch, you've lived here the longest, you can be in charge of the dining establishment for the afternoon," Gar suggested. Lived here the longest was really code for, "You know all the least Accords Offensive restaurants." There were some places that just no one was going to risk. Places that abused signers outright, wouldn't hire signers, or treated signer staff with terrible disrespect. Between Dutch, Gar, and Kurt, plenty of restaurants had been unearthed that played dirty. KFC was fine, Raven worked there with minimal problems, but KFC wasn't the best place for a vegetarian to go.

After much deliberation, the four of them picked a place. The had invited Noelle's brother and Gar's employer Demarius Sharp to hang out with them, but he was busy working on renovation plans for the Shelter, part of the reason Gar hadn't had to come in today. As for the rest, guy's night started early, around 11, and would end after they watched the newest thriller together, which started at 9 and would probably go on until midnight. They didn't have dinner plans yet but headed to a burger place, which Dutch assured Gar had great salads, for lunch.

After eating way too much they kind of sat around waiting for ideas to pop into their heads for what to do next.

"Why," Dutch posed the question, "did we consider doing this without our girlfriends? They would know what to do before we started on the first thing."

"Well," Kurt said, deliberately taking a long swig of root beer to delay the confession, "I don't exactly have a girlfriend."

"Single life isn't bad," Gar said, trying to cheer him up. Victor straight up snorted.

"Single life isn't bad?" Victor challenged.

"When we first left Titans tower you used to email me about how much you missed Raven and you two weren't even dating yet." The other three laughed, while Gar's "normal" face turned red.

"Oh shut up. You're the same way when Sarah goes out of town for a week. How'd she let you come to this anyway?"

"She's not a dictator, you know that as well as I do. She and Alicia are visiting her parents." Gar quit teasing him with a shrug.

"Seriously guys, what should we do?" Dutch posed the question because even though the restaurant was Accords tolerant, some of its patrons were giving the four men all wearing identical watches some funny looks.

"We could just walk around town, see if there's anything fun to do..."

"Well, I for one don't know Kurt or Dutch very well, so it would be nice if we went somewhere and just talked." Victor pointed out, which Gar thought was kind of typical of him.

"We could head back to my place, I don't have many video games but I could school any of you in a game of clue or Risk while we talk," Dutch said.

"Oh, I love Risk..." Victor said. Because boys like risk.

"Risk is boring," Kurt argued.

"Yeah, I mean, I'd rather play Clue..." Gar agreed.

"Fine, we'll play Clue."

Dutch's place was small, there was a sewing station swamped in fabric pressed against a wall, a boxy tv that looked like it was snatched from the curb, and just enough seats on the couch for two people. But there was a table and chairs enough for the murder party, so the game of Clue commenced.

"Do you want to be a designer, Dutch? Because I thought you said you worked in the food industry." Victor asked, eying the sewing machine, which he had a full view of from his spot at the table.

"Well yeah, I work in the food industry, but so does Kurt and Raven, and Gar works at an animal shelter. We're all just kind of in a place where we're not where we want to be. Not just in employment, but life." Dutch said all of this all the while moving his little player piece 11 spaces. Before anyone could say anything, though, he continued with his spiel.

"I would love to be a designer, and get married, and move out of this cruddy apartment, but I'm just not there yet." He stood and turned away, nearly hitting a wall, and had to take a breath to calm down. Victor looked a little... Taken aback.

"I didn't know things were this bad here. I kind of thought equality was happening for everyone." He admitted in a small voice.

"Equality only happens if you can fake normal well enough. It gets hard when you add extra appendages."

"I didn't know. I'm sorry. I don't know if you'll get your dream... But I have faith that if anyone could achieve those kinds of things, it would be you." Dutch smiled.

"Thanks. You hardly know me." Victor shrugged at the comment.

"What can I say? You are clearly a designer in the making." He gestured to Dutch's homemade shirt, and Dutch grinned a little. Kurt was kind of studying the board as if it held his own answers to the universe.

"What about you, Kurt? What are your dreams outside of the service industry?" Gar appreciated his sort of older brother's attempts to connect with his friends.

"Oh, no, no. The service industry is just fine. I didn't exactly go to college, and so I have a good job for what I've put into it. My dreams are... Unlikely."

"Let's hear 'em." Gar encouraged.

"Well, college would be nice, but that isn't it. I want... Acceptance. I am tired of first dates with online girls. I would like to meet someone who accepts a signer. Blue fur and all."

"That's how it should be," Victor whispered, but he couldn't give the same kind of motivational speech. If Dutch put a lot of hard work in, he might one day get a job in the design world. Kurt could work as hard as he pleased and might not ever turn anyone's head.

"You'll find someone." Gar had to say, though. Because if anyone deserved to believe in a dream, it was his friends. Kurt cracked a grin. He was good at being happy, being friendly, he had his rough patches, but everyone did.

"I will keep looking. Oh, and it was Colonel Mustard in the library with the knife." No one could disprove him, so he checked the envelope. A wider grin appeared.

"Rematch." Dutch challenged.


	11. Thanksgiving day

**This is me deciding that there will be fifteen chapters. Yay. I've got this.  
**

* * *

"Well, I'll be gone until the new year." Kurt declared, wielding a suitcase.

"W-wait, what?" Gar stammered because they most certainly hadn't had a roommate meeting about this. Actually, they had never ever had a roommate meeting ever in their entire run as roommates, but that was beyond the point.

"I thought I told you..." Kurt said, looking guilty.

"I think I would remember?" Gar said as Butterscotch wound his way around Gar's legs.

"I'm going to my parents for Thanksgiving, my non-mutant parents, and I'm staying the rest of the year to do some work with my dad. Got this month and next month's rent already covered, so you have nothing to worry about. Happy Holidays, Gar."

"Y-yeah, you too. I'll miss you, dude, but I hope you have a good time." Kurt and Gar hugged.

"Feel free to use my room to entertain guests," Kurt added.

"Oh. Okay. I might invite Victor and Sarah and Alicia over for Christmas." Kurt nodded encouragingly.

"Got to go." Kurt leaned down and let Butterscotch rub against him.

"Goodbye Butterscotch..." The cat purred sadly and bumped his head against Kurt's hand. Gar was a little jealous that Butterscotch was the favorite roommate, but he let it go pretty quickly. Soon, Kurt was gone. Butterscotch looked up at him, like, "So what are we doing for Thanksgiving?"

"I'll figure something out," Gar said dismissively, clicking the button on his image inducer and leaving Shadow Valley apartments. He had a plan for Thanksgiving, alright. He just had to get a few dozen roses and stroll into Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Or one rose. On his budget, one rose seemed better. And Raven wasn't the flashy type anyway. One simplistic rose was far more ideal than several. The florist was fairly reasonable, and soon Gar was on his way to that Kentucky Fried slaughterhouse. The smell of fried chicken was a little sickening, but he would brave any nausea for Raven.

"Welcome to KFC how may I help you?" Raven asked before she looked up.

"Oh, Gar."

"I got you something." He produced the flower with a little bit of pizzazz. Raven blushed and then frowned.

"You shouldn't have. You're interrupting work..."

"Sorry. I'll have an order of potato wedges. And I have something to ask you... Will you join me and Butterscotch for Thanksgiving? Kurt's out of town." Raven thought.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. I'll be there, tomorrow, noon. Now pay and get out of the way of the other customers." Gar rolled his eyes and nodded, giving her a five and stepping out of the way.

"Keep the rest as a tip." He added, leaving the money and the rose with her and leaving soon with his potatoes. Raven watched after him before turning to the next customer.

"Welcome to KFC how may I help you?" Another employee jabbed her in the stomach with his elbow.

"It's how may I serve you." Raven stopped.

"I don't serve anyone." She growled.

"Uh... I just want the popcorn chicken go cup..." The customer said midst the stand down.

"Coming right up," Raven said, with a forced smile and a two weeks notice in her mind. What she would give to quit this job. But it didn't seem possible. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

This was the part of the day when Gar would've asked his roommate whether or not he thought the suit jacket was too much or if it clashed with his much more casual jeans. He heated bread and made a salad and didn't put out any tofu dishes because she hated tofu. It would have been nice, for him, but he was willing to do without. He must have brushed his teeth five times so that it would be nice and fresh. He finished preparing the meal and baking the pies, and then he sat back, pleased, waiting by the door with Butterscotch.

"You could have helped you know," He pointed out to the cat, who was eating his own food. Butterscotch meowed smugly and kept eating. Then came that knock he'd been looking forward to. He stood abruptly and opened the door, producing a second red rose for his date.

"I don't really have anywhere to put it..." She pointed out, but he'd thought of that and tucked it gently into her purple hair.

"You know, I really like you, Raven," He whispered, awfully close to her face.

"I know... You wore a suit. Or part of one." He blushed and pulled her chair out for her.

"Madame," He joked.

"Thank you." She looked at the spread. He sat and they mostly ate in silence. There was a lot on his mind, he wanted to ask about their future, he wanted to ensure they had one together, to hold something tangible in his hands and believe... But he didn't dare bring it up.

After the meal, they watched football, neither of them interested in football. When he scooted a little closer to her, she squirmed a bit, stroking the fur of the cat in her lap. Then, she fell asleep, which Gar found adorable. Butterscotch was slyly lured away by a laser pointer and Gar masterfully transformed into a very similar cat, slinking into her lap. Then he fell asleep too until a sleepy hand started caressing him, then he woke up and responded to her soft hand, purring loudly. When Raven realized it was him, he got thrown halfway across the room by a shadowy tendril, but he was fine with that. Now wasn't the best time to bring up their future. But he had a plan for that too.

"You made lunch so can dinner be on me?" Raven asked as the night wound down.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. Dinner. Sounds great." Hand in hand they walked the streets of the now quiet city, looking for something that wasn't closed for the Holiday. When they found such a place it seemed like time would still to a stop. He wanted to kiss her, but he didn't. She kissed him.


	12. Family Reunion

It was a veritable family reunion. He hadn't seen the Titans all in one place since the bombing. He hadn't even seen Robin in person since the bombing. He saw Starfire every few months, and Cyborg when he could take time off of his busy life, and Raven now, thank goodness, nearly every day. But seeing them together was so different... And so familiar. Robin and Star were staying with Raven, and Cyborg, Sarah, and Alicia with Gar. Alicia was sitting on Gar's lap, his green face between her two hands.

"Uncle Gar is my boyfriend." The four-year-old decided, kissing Gar's cheek. Gar smirked and looked at Raven, who shrugged.

"I'm alright with this arrangement," Raven teased.

"Of course you are," Gar grunted. Victor and Sarah were laughing, and Robin even cracked a grin. Robin was so much more serious now. He was still doing what he loved, kicking butts and taking names, with the girl he loved. After all, he didn't have any powers, and the Accords were no threat to him. He had used his connections with Batman to ensure Starfire the same type of job he easily got. Gar couldn't be happier for the two of them, and for Victor and his family. He knew happiness didn't come easy these days, so if his friends could be happy, he couldn't possibly be upset, right?

"Can we open presents Uncle Gar?"

"Noooo we gotta wait until tomorrow..." Gar said, tickling her sides. She shrieked and hopped off his lap, running to daddy.

"Hey Raven," Gar teased, "my lap has a vacancy."

"Hey, look, so does mine." She retorted, telling the entire group of how he had tricked her by pretending to be Butterscotch.

"Honestly, the cat has more game than Gar." She finished. Gar huffed and glared at the cat who was now in Starfire's lap. The cat meowed at him. It was impossible to be mad at Butterscotch for very long, even if his girlfriend loved the furball more than him.

"It's so great to see all of you guys again..." Gar said after a few moments of silence. He'd been the silence filler when they were younger, his leg tapping even now as they sat around the living room.

"Yeah, it's a shame your roommate isn't here. I would've liked to meet him. Star says he's a nice guy."

"Yeah, he is. But he's with his family. And I'm with mine."

"You're so cheesy..." Vic teased, but he was beaming because he was honestly a big sap too.

"You know who you should meet, Robin? Gar's friend Dutch. That dude is awesome, and he makes his own clothes."

"Didn't know I had competition..." Sarah joked.

"You don't, because you are perfect in every way." He kissed her.

"Gross daddy..." Alicia complained, yawning.

"It's getting late, we should get you to bed. When you wake up, it will be Christmas." Alicia cheered.

"Christmas!" Sarah left to take Alicia to bed and the Titans took a moment to just stare at each other.

"Wow..." Vic says.

"It's been so long." Robin agreed, sheepishly, scratching at the back of his head.

"I've been kind of nervous about all of us getting together. After what happened." Robin looked down.

"He blamed himself," Star explained.

"Star, I asked you not to tell them that."

"They need to know why you've been hiding for so long..."

"It wasn't your fault, Robin. It wasn't anyone's fault except some stupid bigots afraid of what they don't understand." Victor said, standing up and putting his hand on Robin's shoulder. Soon they were hugging.

"I still feel responsible. I was the leader. I should have kept you safe."

"We're the Titans, we keep each other safe. It's not all on you." Gar smiled to himself to hear Victor say that. It made him feel like he was still a part of this like it was still very much real and good. Their family. He glanced at Raven, and she was smiling too. Star stood up, suddenly and Butterscotch ran from her lap and hid under the table, shrieking a bit.

"Sorry, kitty... Robin and I have an announcement." Robin crossed the floor to stand next to his wife and wrap an arm around her waist.

"Star and I are expecting a baby." Gar grinned.

"That's great news, Robin. I'm gonna be an Uncle again." He could tell, by the look in Robin's eyes, that nothing scared him more than the prospect of parenting. He had been a phenomenal leader and was now a great S.H.I.E.L.D. agent but was scared stiff by the idea of being a dad, and trying very hard not to show it. Gar got it. He was scared for the future too. He glanced at Raven, who was now hugging and congratulating Starfire. Star would be an amazing mom. That kid would grow up surrounded by love. It truly was a wonderful Christmas Eve.

One by one everyone drifted away, until it was just Raven and Gar, Raven gathering her things, about to leave.

"Wait... I have a present for you, I wanted to give it to you when no one else was around and tomorrow will be crowded..." Raven paused, staring at him as he got down on one knee and pulled out a box.

"Raven, will you marry me?"

"No. I mean... I need more time to think. It's too soon. I'm sorry." She rushed out of the apartment, and the whole building seemed to shudder a bit. Gar sank down onto the couch dejectedly, texting Kurt who knew the whole plan.

 _G: She said no._

 _K: Aw. If at first, you don't succeed, try try again. My family is rooting for you, man._

 _G: Thanks. Merry Christmas._

 _K: Merry Christmas. I celebrate Hanukkah, though._

 _G: Happy Hanukkah._

 _K: :D_

Gar ended up sleeping on the sofa, woken up in the morning by his niece, yelling about presents. When the others had arrived, Star looked at him a little funny. Like she knew what he'd asked Raven the night before. He gave her a weak smile and gave her her present from him. He'd been low budget this year, like actually super low budget due to the cost of the ring, so he had written everyone a personalized poem for their gift. Except for Alicia, who got a poem and a stuffed animal he'd properly sterilized from goodwill. She was really excited about it and showed it off to everyone in the room.

Gar got presents from all of them, and they were all great, and Butterscotch got some presents too, but he was a bit distracted. Raven got him a new journal and told him to read the inscription in private. So he excused himself and sat in his room to read it.

 _I really like you too, and that isn't something I'd just admit. I don't know if I'm ready to commit because the future scares me. But you'll be the first one to know when I decide._

Instead of drawing a little heart, there was a sketch of a raven.

Merry Christmas.


	13. Rock, Paper

It was an unsuspecting Saturday, one of those awkward ones because Gar and Raven were still together but she wasn't ready to commit. It was so awkward, the whole waiting for her to commit thing. He'd been committed since the day he fell in love with her the first time, and now... And now he was ready to be committed to Arkham, the waiting was driving him so insane. They were sitting on the couch. The four of them. Gar, Raven, Butterscotch, and Kurt. It didn't really feel like a third wheel kind of thing, because it was hanging out, not a date. They were watching a Disney movie, The Wild.

"The lion cub sounds like you," Raven pointed out.

"Does not."

"No, she has a point," Kurt said, and half the movie went by before Gar conceded to the similarities between his voice and Ryan the lion cub's voice.

"I bet you that movie will get a live-action remake," Raven said when it was over.

"No, no, it's not good enough for a remake or a reboot."

"Reboots suck. They reboot everything nowadays and all of it seems geared to mindless immature children. They've totally trashed some beloved franchises by rebooting them." Raven said, going on a tirade.

"Agreed." Kurt and Gar said in unison, glancing at each other.

"The remakes aren't always bad..." Gar pointed out, scratching his head gently.

"Well, no I guess not..."

"You know what Disney movie needs a remake? Anastasia." Both Raven and Gar turned their stares toward Kurt.

"Anastasia is not a Disney princess," Gar said, aghast.

"I know, but Disney bought Fox, opening up a lot of different franchises to them..." Kurt pointed out, wilting slightly under Raven's look. There was a knock at the door, and Kurt vanished, appearing next to it and opening it.

"No one... Just a pamphlet." He vanished, appearing back at the couch and causing Butterscotch to hiss in confusion as he always did in response to the teleportation, before nuzzling Kurt to tell him not to leave. Kurt examined the pamphlet and handed it over.

"This is weird. Revolution? Rebellion?" Raven read, scanning the cryptic pamphlet.

"Doughnuts." Gar read, pointing to the bottom that advertised free doughnuts for whoever came.

"We're not going for free doughnuts, this could be a cult."

"Well, _I'm_ going for free doughnuts," Gar said, looking at Kurt.

"I have to go to work," Kurt said apologetically.

"But save me a doughnut," He added. Raven sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I'll go to make sure you don't get yourself killed." She promised, giving his hand a quick squeeze.

"See you tomorrow, fourth floor," Raven says, nodding at him and leaving.

"Goodnight," He called as the door closed, to no one.

"Goodnight..." Kurt offered, also to a closed door as Gar went to his room. Butterscotch meowed and butted heads against his blue-furred companion.

"You get me," Kurt mumbled into the fur of his other roommate. Even though Gar had brought Butterscotch home, it would be unfair to call him anything other than Kurt's kitty.

Gar almost forgot about free doughnuts. In that, he almost slept in that morning for lack of work on Sunday mornings. Raven let herself using Gar's extra key and stormed into his room, dragging him out of the bed.

"You got me into this cult meeting so you are not sleeping through it." In truth, she too was curious about free doughnuts. Free doughnuts were intriguing. Free doughnuts should be the title of this, the thirteenth chapter of Roommates by ReeReeWithAngst (tell your friends and review please), but it will not be because ReeReeWithAngst thinks her titling is clever. It probably is not as intriguing or clever as free doughnuts.

"Right... Doughnuts." Gar pulled off his shirt in front of her so that he could change for the meeting, forgetting they were not married or engaged. She grunted.

"Gar, I did not come here to see this, why would I want to see this. This is just sad." He glanced at his torso. He hadn't been working out lately, but calling it _sad_ was kind of hurtful.

"Okay, scootch and I'll change in peace, thanks." She rolled her eyes and left. He was actually grateful for her leaving because it helped him continue to veil the secret that most days he just put on deodorant every day instead of showering when he was super busy, or on the hunt for free breakfast. He looked nice, though. Ish. With a black shirt contrasting his skin and blue jeans. Yeah... Nice-ish. Raven wasn't too impressed by his nice-ish, though. She looked really, _really_ good. She was wearing a hoodie she had gotten for Christmas, it was black and read: Abibliophobia: (a-bib-lee-a-fo-bee-a) noun: Fear of running out of books. She actually had a ton of really cute bookworm hoodies and if he was the richest man in the world he would literally stand around her and casually make it rain Barnes and Noble gift cards. Alas.

They headed upstairs for the secret meeting where doughnuts would be present, neither really interested in the revolution or the oppression, rather just interested in the pastries. Krispy Kreme. The kind of thing that seems to only be available at upper-class business meetings, frat parties, and the inner gates of heaven. Krispy Kreme was a miracle. The events that transpired after Gar tucked away a doughnut for his roommate and stuffed two into his own mouth- less miraculous.

"Where's the smurf? I thought he was going to come."

"You mean Kurt?"

"Yeah, Kurt, Smurf, whatever." Gar vaguely recognized this guy as a former x-men. Toad. And the other one as a guy who had come to their house party with Kitty Pryde. They were probably roommates here, and they'd also once been villains, supposedly.

"He had work." There were a couple of other people, but it was mostly empty. Why would so many people miss out on free doughnuts... Unless not a lot of people were invited. Raven turned on Toad while Gar narrowed his eyes at Avalanche and swallowed a rainbow sprinkles doughnut semi-threateningly.

"What is going on here?" Raven asked, threatening and adorable at the same time.

"Oh, right. Well, we were just thinking, Lance and I, how sucky it is that the world treats us like crap when, if you might remember, we all used to be hailed as heroes."

"Being a hero isn't about any hailing, it's about making the world a less terrible place."

"Well duh, whatever, making the world less terrible would be great. So why aren't we allowed to do that? We need to take a stand. We need to do something!"

"You sound like an angsty teenager." Said Raven, the original angsty teenager.

"Come on Gar, we're leaving. Put the doughnuts down." Gar sadly left the doughnuts behind, except for the one he'd claimed for Smurf, er, Kurt. When they were far enough away from the doughnut revolution, Raven paused and sat down on the stairs, putting her face in her hands as if she were incapable of handling the weirdness going on in apartment 415.

"They had a point..." Gar whispered.

* * *

 **I'm just gonna leave this here. I'm so tired. Heaven help me.**


	14. Moving Out

**Second to last chapter! It's been a blast writing this.  
**

* * *

The day started with a surprise. A roommate meeting. Kurt and Gar never had roommate meetings. A breakfast roommate meeting, while Gar ate Pop-Tarts and Kurt had a fried egg and a bagel with cream cheese.

"We need to talk, Gar," Kurt said with a pleasant smile, his tail flicking around and Butterscotch chasing it and trying to catch it.

"Alright, what's up?"

"I'm moving out."

"Huh?"

"I'm moving out. I want to live closer to my parents, and I have a job promised down there... And let's be honest, Gar, no place is as Accords Tolerant as we want it to be. Not even here, with Pensley's and Shadow Valley Apartments. If I want to live the life I want to live, I need to stop pretending there's an easy way to do it. But I've loved being your roommate, I really have. I hope we can keep in touch and visit, and I'd really like to help with the search for a new roommate if that's what you'd like." Gar was stunned but wanted to support Kurt, who'd become one of his best friends in these past few months.

"That's really awesome, Kurt. I'll be here for you for all of this, of course we can keep in touch. I'll help you pack, even." Kurt smiled.

"I knew you'd understand." Butterscotch caught Kurt's tail and meowed loudly. Gar turned toward the cat, smile wavering.

"You should take Butterscotch." He told his friend. Kurt's eyes grew wide.

"But you're the one who adopted him..."

"Yeah, I am, but he likes you best. He's your cat and he should stay with you. If you want him." Kurt smiled and scooped up the cat.

"Yeah. I'd love that. You're sure?"

"I'm sure. I'll visit both of my roommates whenever I get the chance." Kurt smiled.

"I'm putting in my two weeks today, so any help with packing would be really appreciated. I've got to go now, though."

Gar nodded and was left sitting there, with Butterscotch scratching up the kitchen chairs. It was going to be so terribly lonely after Kurt and Butterscotch left. He knew they would be alright, the cat and mutant would take care of each other, but what about him? Would he be alright? He realized he would have to leave for work soon. It would be a good time to look into getting a new pet... Since Raven loved Butterscotch, perhaps she would accompany him. It had been several months since he proposed and he was nearing the end of the spring semester at Pensley's. The waiting was still driving him insane. It had been a while since what he was considering their last "proper" date, as well, the free doughnut meeting. All of it gave him so much to think about on his morning commute.

He tried to go about the rest of his day as cheerfully as possible. He didn't want to drag down the moods of the animals, and besides, he had a sort of date to look forward to with Raven tonight. Well, they were going grocery shopping together. But he would still put on a clean shirt for it.

After finishing his day at the shelter, he jogged swiftly back to the apartments to get ready for a quick dinner and shopping with Ray. He would do anything with her, anything for her. But before he got ready for the date, he stopped by Hilda at her desk and put in a new roommate request form.

"Kurt is moving out, and so if there's anyone looking for a roommate in the near future, could you please let me know?"

"Of course Mr. Logan, thank you for letting me know," Hilda said, with a curt nod. Gar was pretty sure he was getting on her good side, which seemed like the only safe place to be. He had no idea what kind of powers Hilda had, if any, but he had heard that she was pretty powerful from laundry room gossip, and even if she wasn't any sort of Accords signer herself, she was still extremely intimidating and very dedicated to her career of keeping this apartment in shape and her tenants in line.

"You're welcome." Then he slipped upstairs, a little relieved to be out from under her critical gaze.

Soon, he was all dressed up and ready to go meet Raven and her own lovely and intimidating critical gaze. He was bolder now than when they first started dating, and fearlessly took her chin in his hand and kissed her lips. She didn't blush, but averted her gaze and almost smiled.

"Hello. Ready to go?"

"Yeah." He smiled and took her hand. Dinner was rather uneventful, chatting about jobs and his finals and anything else that might be of importance. Distracted by his girl, he didn't think to bring up the roommate situation until dinner was over and they had begun to shop. Usually, he would get distracted by the clearance area, but he trailed obediently behind Raven instead, letting her dictate which aisles they traversed.

"Oh, hey, you know what I learned today?" He asked, just now thinking about Kurt when he saw a product that his roommate used.

"What?"

"Kurt is moving near where his parents live. I'm going to have to find a new roommate."

"Yeah... About that, can I tell you something?" She asked... Turning over a lime in her hands as if it had the answers to the universe.

"Of course, definitely." He nodded, studying the lime to see what she saw. But it was just an ordinary lime, to distract from the extraordinary thing she said next.

"I want to marry you." She said to the lime. His head snapped up and he tilted her head up to meet his eyes.

"Y-you do?" He didn't stop to ask why. He would later. He definitely would later.

"Yes, Gar, I do. If you still want to marry me... I would like to elope." Gar was stunned into stepping backward and knocking over an extreme amount of limes. They probably would have gotten in trouble for it, too, if that had been the only commotion in the grocery store at that moment. But there was something a lot louder and a lot more dire than rolling limes.

Gunshots at the ceiling. A robbery.

He looked at her, and she nodded.

"If we're going to do this, we have to do this together." He whispered to her, turning off the image inducer and leaping into action. One of the cashiers had a gun pressed against his head, and another was unlocking the cash register for the second robber, also wielding a gun. No doubt there was a getaway driver right outside the store. The older cashier with a gun pressed to his head looked terrified. And also sort of familiar. As Gar transformed into a mighty green and black tiger he caught the name tag, which stated simply: Lee.

He let out a loud roar at towards the robbers, other customers screaming even more than they were when the gunshots went off. He guessed in this city gunshots were more common than tigers. Soon, two guns were pointed at him. A growl caught in his throat. He was scared, he was terrified. He had made no effort to do anything even remotely heroic since the bombing. The bombing had shaken him to the core, of course it had. Now he was going to be shot, for being different, for trying to make a difference. No, there was no justice in that, that on the day the girl he loved said yes to a marriage proposal he was staring down the barrel a gun. He shifted into his Beast Boy form, hoping the gun would be pointed away, but it wasn't. Then, suddenly, the guns were wrenched away from their unsuspecting hands by Raven's powers. She slammed them to the ground and helped Gar off of it. He slipped into a smaller form and went outside to take care of the driver.

When the police arrived, their names were taken down, and his adrenaline was pumping. He picked Raven up off her feet and twirled her around.

"I'm going to marry you!" He sang out loud, happier than he'd ever been, goofier than he'd ever been. Tonight, even after staring down the barrel of a gun, no, especially after staring down the barrel of a gun, was the best night of his life. He was giddy when they got back to Shadow Valley Apartments when he gleefully announced to Hilda,

"I don't need help finding a roommate anymore, because Raven and I are getting married!"

"Congratulations Mr. Logan. Unfortunately, due to your actions tonight, you wouldn't need help finding a roommate anyway. For unauthorized heroism, you're being evicted."


	15. Moving on

**This is the last chapter! Sad goodbyes and all. If you didn't get the title: Rock, Paper, for chapter 13 (if you read chapter 13) then it references the scene in Thor Ragnarok where Korg is talking about how he didn't print enough pamphlets to start a revolution, and how in that case, paper beats rock. And the Stan Lee cameo wasn't very fleshed out, but it happened last chapter, chapter 14 with the cashier. Anyway, goodbye and thank all of you for reading and reviewing.**

* * *

It was an insanely busy last day of work, and it started with a visit from someone very, very unexpected.

"Hilda!" He said, startled when she walked in on him cleaning cages.

"Mr. Logan, I wanted to talk to you away from Shadow Valley. Besides, Mr. Banner wanted to prove that he could handle the lobby and we have a bet going." Gar laughed in surprise, as she'd never seemed the type to make bets with other signers. Or have any sort of fun, ever. Hilda Beauregard was hard to place. There were so many rumors that surrounded her, about who she was and what she'd done. He hadn't expected to ever get answers.

"Okay, let's talk." He truly wasn't mad, he might have been, at another time, but how could he be mad now? Yes, the future was unsure and it did scare him, as it had since the day Titan Tower went down. But now, he wasn't heading into that unsure future alone. Tomorrow he and Raven would elope, pack up and move out and face the future together, come what may. So he wasn't mad, didn't demand an apology. But Hilda still provided one.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Logan, that you have to be punished for trying to do the right thing. The rules aren't set up fairly for signers. But the world wants those rules enforced, and that's my job. I hate it too." She fiddled with the image inducer on her own left wrist. Hilda had horns. Four or five, or maybe six of them studded her head, almost elegantly. And she had fangs, just as sharp if not more so. She could cause damage if she wanted to, just as everyone had guessed of her.

"Not very useful, huh?" She mentioned, looking a tad tense as if these horns didn't get much time out in public.

"I've heard a lot of rumors about you." Gar blurted suddenly. She just shrugged.

"I've done some things."

"Right." He was a little too scared to ask follow-ups.

"But now it's my job to protect people who are like me. There are riots in the street no matter what we do, which is why it's crucial we abide by their rules." Gar nodded.

"I'm not upset about being evicted, and I don't regret breaking the rules. I'll be more careful, but someone innocent could have been hurt."

"The same could have been said about you."

"Nah," he said, laughing off the nervousness, "Raven had my back. She always does." Hilda had turned the inducer back on and had focused her attention to the animals in the cages.

"Looking to adopt?" He asked.

"Yeah. I think it would be nice to have a dog around the Apartments." She was clearly drawn to one, so Gar slipped away and let her have her space, allowing Demarius to handle the adoption as he returned to cleaning cages, a smile on his face.

Of course, angry or not, leaving the animals at the shelter, as well as all of his friends, was extremely saddening. One by one his friends made small pilgrimages to say their first goodbyes. Demarius mentioned how much he'd miss such a good employee, and casually asked where Gar would go from there.

"I'm going to look into freelance writing. And maybe I'll grace the service industry with my presence while I try to get that going."

"Ah, the service industry," Demarius said with a knowing eye roll.

"I know, I know. I'll do whatever it takes to support Raven." Then the shelter grew busy, and they parted ways.

Before his shift was over, Dutch appeared, bravely showing his support despite his cat allergy (which was also the reason they rarely hung out at Gar's place).

"Hey, I'm going to miss you, dude," Dutch said earnestly, wrapping Gar in a tight six armed hug, eyes watering, because of allergies, obviously.

"I'll miss you too, you're one of the first friends I made here. Ray and I will visit, of course."

"I'm happy for both of you," Dutch said, looking down at his multiple hands.

"Are you going to chase your dreams too?" Gar asked, feeling like he should give his friend a supportive nudge before he left.

"Uh, yeah, I just made a down payment on one of those dreams, and I'm here, in part, to ask Demarius' blessing." Gar grinned, knowing Demarius would consent to his sister marrying Thomas Dutch.

"Good luck, Dutch. Goodbye…"

"Hey, you're not getting rid of me yet. Tonight we're having your bachelor party. I was thinking Clue, my place." Gar smiled wider.

"That sounds great, I'll have to ask my fiance, though." And they both laughed.

Before the bachelor party but after his shift ended and he'd said goodbye to all of the animals, he headed for Shadow Valley Apartments, to help his fiance pack up for them to move. Vic would be there tomorrow with the moving van, later doing double duty as the witness at the elopement. All Gar wanted to do after the long and somewhat sad day was wrap Raven his arms and kiss her. But there was still that one question on his mind… Why had she said yes? She hadn't been ready at Christmas, and that was absolutely fine. Raven always had her own timeline. But what had changed between now and then? When she let him into the apartment he took her into his arms as planned, but waited for a little while before asking her the critical question, nervous she'd be mad at him for asking.

"Hey… Ray? Why did you say yes? Why did you decide you wanted to marry me now?"

"Because… I stopped being afraid. Do you think I didn't want to say yes on Christmas? But I was working a humiliating job surrounded by people who didn't want me to succeed and I was…" She said the next part so quietly, "...scared that we would fail, simply for the reason that non-signers would want us too. I was scared that they would do something to our new family like what they did to our first. But that's bullcrap. We're strong enough to withstand that, and I couldn't let other people make my life choices anymore." He covered her face in kisses. He was so in love and so proud of her.

"What happened has affected every part of my life as well. Sometimes I'm so scared I don't know what to do. But I know that I want to be with you for the rest of our lives and start a family with you, and stop being afraid of what happens next. Thank you, Raven, for giving up fear with me." She kissed back.

When the party was over and the whole future loomed in front of him, no longer threatening him, simply waiting for him to make the next move, he found he couldn't sleep. Of course not, the next day he was getting married, and he was way too excited to sleep ever again. So he got up, turned on the light, got out the journal Raven had gotten him, which he hadn't even used yet, and started writing his first professional piece.

 _No one will ever know what it's like to be an Accords Signer unless they are one. So I'm here to expose the hurt and the lies and all of the misconceptions. My name is Gar Logan, and I used to be a superhero._


End file.
